City of Ghosts

Name: City of Ghosts
Genre: War, Documentary
Released: July 7, 2017
Duration: 92 min
Rating: 86
Cast: Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, Hamoud, Hassan, Hussam, Mohamad

2017

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 31 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Ratings

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6.4

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6.4	Your Score
6.4	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Ratings

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City Of Ghosts

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Movie Details & Credits

IFC Films | Release Date: July 7, 2017 | R

Starring: Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, Hamoud, Hassan, Hussam, Mohamad, Naji Jerf

Summary: City of Ghosts follows the journey of “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently”— a handful of anonymous activists who banded together after their homeland was taken over by ISIS in 2014. With astonishing, deeply personal access, this is the story of a brave group of citizen journalists as they face the realities of life undercover, on the run,City of Ghosts follows the journey of “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently”— a handful of anonymous activists who banded together after their homeland was taken over by ISIS in 2014. With astonishing, deeply personal access, this is the story of a brave group of citizen journalists as they face the realities of life undercover, on the run, and in exile, risking their lives to stand up against one of the greatest evils in the world today.… Expand

Director: Matthew Heineman

Genre(s): War, Documentary

Rating: R

Runtime: 92 min

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Awards & Rankings

27	#27 Best Movie of 2017

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

The Guardian Charlie Phillips

Jan 28, 2017

The film is about more than simply personal loss and Heineman’s admiration of journalist activists. It’s a guide to the media war being fought between Isis’s video team and RBSS. Read full review

100

Kate Taylor

Jun 29, 2017

The doc, similar to the Oscar-winning The White Helmets but a subtler portrait of heroism, reveals accurate information as the first weapon of resistance. Read full review

100

Matthew Anderson

Aug 3, 2017

Benefiting from the matter-of-fact, unerring defiance exhibited by the group, Heineman is unflinching in representing the brutality perpetrated by ISIS as well as their own very savvy use of the media as a tool for recruitment and influence. Read full review

Peter Keough

Jul 19, 2017

This is a hard movie to watch, and even more painful to think about. Read full review

Barbara VanDenburgh

Jul 27, 2017

City of Ghosts isn’t merely about the personal sacrifices of these men, but a testament to the necessity of a free and open press the world over. Read full review

Peter Debruge

Jan 26, 2017

What City of Ghosts does best is to humanize those who’ve suffered most from the conflict in Syria, educating us through both outrage and compassion. Read full review

Manohla Dargis

Jul 6, 2017

More information and in-depth analysis, as well as greater restraint in the use of atrocity images, might have deepened a movie that leans on shortcuts and visual shocks. Read full review

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User Reviews

3ebfan511

Oct 1, 2017

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Good, but not great, documentary about the citizen media group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently. I have seen other docs about the Syria war that hit me harder in some ways, as much of the time the main characters in this are fairly safe in hotel rooms or safehouses in Europe/Germany etc., but...it was still a pretty solidly good Doc and definitely worth seeing if you are interested in this subject matter.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

QueCabronEres

Nov 16, 2017

The movie has about 30 minutes of very interesting facts about the ISIS situation and what the team is doing to fix it.

Unfortunately, it has more than an hour of staring at the group doing sad faces and complaining about how hard their life is.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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